Great Article - In Defense of Robert Kraft

[grux]

The very freedom we enjoy everyday is because our fellow US citizens fought for it. Football is no where as important as freedom but it only takes one person to fight for what is right and people will follow your lead. Unfortunatley, Mr. Kraft is all about the shield. He took a big risk when he purchased the team but won't take the same risk to defend it's leagacy. Sad times indeed.

 

[Batman]

For me I believe Kraft saying he would accept any punishment before the axe fell was the mistake. He knows it's harsh what has done. On appeal he could maybe have got it down but a court battle would not be winnable and therefore pointless.

Kraft stays as a man of his word he will be hurt but do t for a second believe he made this call without discussing it with BB first. A list of a first round pick is something he would want a say in.

 

[fnordcircle]

I agree with this article, over all. I think the rage against Kraft is misplaced anger. The league ****ed us and put Kraft in a ****ty spot with no good options. But now we've moved all of our anger over the league's utter ******** towards Kraft and I don't think that's fair.

 

[Deus Irae]

If you have a closed mind about Kraft's actions and still deeply hurt
then this article will probably not help you. But if you're open to consider what motivated
Mr. Kraft this article may help you understand the dilemma Mr Kraft faced and why
facing the potential outcomes he took the action that has hurt us all deeply.
By the way if you think Mr Kraft is not hurting , you're dead wrong. He probably hurts
more than any of us.

Rich Levine has done a great job with helping us to understand the situation.
http://www.csnne.com/new-england-patriots/in-defense-of-robert-kraft-and-the-new-england-patriots

You're calling others close minded, given your position on this issue?


#irony

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I agree with this article, over all. I think the rage against Kraft is misplaced anger. The league ****ed us and put Kraft in a ****ty spot with no good options. But now we've moved all of our anger over the league's utter ******** towards Kraft and I don't think that's fair.

Utter BS
Kraft had the option to appeal. Other teams (q.v. San Diego did so w/o destroying the league) He could have laid out the case previously posted on the Patriots website debunking the Wells report. (Now cravenly redacted)
He could have appealed and assuming it was rejected THEN he could have stated that he disagreed with the ruling for reasons a...z but that for league harmony he would go no further. Reasonable.
Instead he chose league approbation, phony as it is, over his fans and most importantly over the forever reputations of his coach and QB. Worse, he again praises Goodell.
Kiam was the worst Pats owner of all but nothing he ever did forever damaged the franchise or its players of that era. In sharp contrast, Bob's selfish cowardice has done irreparable damage to the legacy of the Patriots, their coach and their QB. All for accolades from the likes of Ron Borges who calls Bobby a HOF lock now. Soul sold.

 

[fair catch fryar]

Jeebus Christ, if anything, Kraft could've at least played to his fanbase and let this drama roll on for a while in order to save face even if his true intention was to bend over the whole time. He failed at this on several levels.

 

[JR4]

You're calling others close minded, given your position on this issue?


#irony

Get it right. I said "IF you have a closed mind ..."
Also, if you have solid evidence that Mr. Kraft took this action for any reason other that for the
Good of the Fans, the Patriots and the League, I want to here it. ALL that's been given here on this forum
is speculation and rumor mongering. Nobody here knows the facts and considerations that Mr Kraft
reviewed before coming to his decision. DO YOU???

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Ah, the "Kraft had mystery facts only known to the Illuminati" specious argument

 

[Nunchucks]

Get it right. I said "IF you have a closed mind ..."
Also, if you have solid evidence that Mr. Kraft took this action for any reason other that for the
Good of the Fans, the Patriots and the League, I want to here it. ALL that's been given here on this forum
is speculation and rumor mongering. Nobody here knows the facts and considerations that Mr Kraft
reviewed before coming to his decision. DO YOU???

I think it is quite clear that Kraft probably learned he had little shot of winning and the other owners told him that they did not want the specter of deflategate looming over who know how many seasons of football. They told him he cannot be a pariah in this and he needs to get on-board...He agreed that for the good of the league, he would stop.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Of course he had next to no chance of "winning". That's besides the point. The appeal should have been made on principle. Once the Brady suspension was overthrown by the NFLPA efforts he could have reconsidered and possibly ceased.

 

[Deus Irae]

Get it right. I said "IF you have a closed mind ..."
Also, if you have solid evidence that Mr. Kraft took this action for any reason other that for the
Good of the Fans, the Patriots and the League, I want to here it. ALL that's been given here on this forum
is speculation and rumor mongering. Nobody here knows the facts and considerations that Mr Kraft
reviewed before coming to his decision. DO YOU???

I got it right. You're embarrassing yourself. And you apparently don't know what the hell you're talking about, either, given that Kraft spoke on his reasons. So, you're apparently calling Kraft a liar.

 

[borg]

The "guilty by perception" schtick the author spews is worthless and irrelevant. So is the rest of the puff piece devoid of any original thought. Gimlet Bob probably has a fleet of writers on call ready to advance the "Mr. Kraft is suffering ever so" ...........Get ready for the onslaught of "Statesman Bob Kraft to the league's rescue" fiction

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Terrible article.

If Bob Kraft filed an appeal of the findings and punishment, and presented his case, brought in science experts, had The Deflator, Dorito Dink, etc testify, and in the end Goodell refused to change his ruling, and THEN Kraft stood up and said "I understand this may not be popular, but I fought as far as I could. I cannot in good faith take the next step of suing my own business partners. I know, Tom Brady knows, and all of our fans know that we are being penalized for something we didn't do, but unfortunately we have no options left. I also want to let Tommy know that he has my full support in his appeal and is welcome to use all of the data and evidence we have developed" then I and probably every Patriot fan would have no issue with Kraft. In fact, I would have commended him.
...

Exactly.

That's why I'm so mad.

He didn't have to go nuclear to make his point.

He could have held the threat of the suit out there, gone through an appeals process (to Goodell!!!) that he would have exposed as a sham and then taken the high road and only then dropped the suit along the lines you describe.

Instead, he leaves the haters convinced that the Pats "cheated" and leaves even the most loyal among us wondering whether he really still believes in TB's innocence.

 

[Brewskies]

Terrible article.

If Bob Kraft filed an appeal of the findings and punishment, and presented his case, brought in science experts, had The Deflator, Dorito Dink, etc testify, and in the end Goodell refused to change his ruling, and THEN Kraft stood up and said "I understand this may not be popular, but I fought as far as I could. I cannot in good faith take the next step of suing my own business partners. I know, Tom Brady knows, and all of our fans know that we are being penalized for something we didn't do, but unfortunately we have no options left. I also want to let Tommy know that he has my full support in his appeal and is welcome to use all of the data and evidence we have developed" then I and probably every Patriot fan would have no issue with Kraft. In fact, I would have commended him.
He missed that by 1,000.
Instead he said that he is stuck between the support of the Patriots fans and the other fans that feel the other way. He said what is best for this team doesn't matter unless it is best for all 32. He said he still had options to fight, but it has taken too long, so he quits.

Having read every post within this thread, most that are emotional in nature, this is the best course of action that should have been taken. A misssed opportunity, unless there is a behind the scene deal yet to come forward..

 

[Ring 6]

Exactly.

That's why I'm so mad.

He didn't have to go nuclear to make his point.

He could have held the threat of the suit out there, gone through an appeals process (to Goodell!!!) that he would have exposed as a sham and then taken the high road and only then dropped the suit along the lines you describe.

Instead, he leaves the haters convinced that the Pats "cheated" and leaves even the most loyal among us wondering whether he really still believes in TB's innocence.

What annoys me most is that we had the high ground. Brady was going to rip the Wells report to shreds, Goldberg had already written a more convincng proof of innocence than Wells wrote of guilt, independence issues were raised and believed. The court of public opinion was moving in the direction of heavy doubt, and scrambling for ways to demean us.

Then, BAM, Kraft tells the world the leader of the Patriots doesn't believe enough in them to fight for them.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Please... his name is Bob from now on. He is not Mr. Kraft anymore.

 

[BSR]

I don't know how Rich can write the following in his article and then come to the conclusion that this issue wasn't worth fighting for:

It’s easy to forget now, but Kraft actually left his wife Myra (at her insistence, of course) on her deathbed to help ease the tension during the 2011 lockout. Some of his last precious moments with his wife of 48 years, and Kraft was in the trenches. Seriously, think about that for a second. Think about that sacrifice. Think about that dedication. We live in a time when more and more people simply loathe the NFL, but Robert Kraft still loves it, and has always treated it well, and — regardless of what happened with those footballs — for the league to do Kraft the way they’ve done him the past four months is wrong.
​

If that isn't worth fighting for, then what is? If you really care about the league so much, then how can you see it become so corrupt? The fact is that Kraft stopped fighting not because of what was right, but rather because of what was easy.

 

[Batman]

Winning the Super Bowl 4 months ago wasn't fun? If we were to win it again in 8 months it would be amazing.

In sports owners care about making money, players care about making money. Football is business and big business at that. Maybe I'm more cynical and don't care about what an owner says or does as my soccer team here in the UK has a terrible owner and therefore have a thinker skin and don't take anything he does as a personal shot.

 

[BigPeteG]

Kraft failed on so many levels -IMHO.

Justice - the punishment should fit the crime. Always. Even if guilty the players committed a minor infraction and the Patriots paid a major price. That is simply wrong. You should never accept that. Murderers will sit on death row - and claim their innocence even if it means they don't get out on parole. And this guy - won't even sit through an appeal to lower the penalty to reasonable levels.

Collectivism. Trying to invoke this to cover his behind is beyond infuriating. We all know what really happened.. The guy didn't want to have his good time 'harshed' by the upcoming penalties. So he tried to play it off as being 'for the good of everyone'. How is a system that violates the first rule of justice - good for everyone?! It doesn't even work if you accept collectivism as your value - which is pretty BS coming from a billionaire.

PR. Hey - if you intend to lazily ignore any injustice against your team.. At least shut up a bit about it. Don't go all on the offensive and then run away with your tail between your legs. No one likes a coward - especially in football. And now because of the principle of justice - the 'everyman' think the Pats got what they 'deserved' so what they did is 'really bad'.

This story is filled with so many phony narratives. Kraft "had' to skip the appeal because he couldn't win -or no matter the outcome people would consider the Patriots "cheaters.' Writers need to stop pedaling this garbage because the fans aren't going to buy it. Hey I thought Hernadez was guilty. But you think if he came out innocent - that no one's minds would be changed? Do you think if he said hey I am going to accept whatever penalties I get would send a signal of innocence?

 

[BigPeteG]

If that isn't worth fighting for, then what is? If you really care about the league so much, then how can you see it become so corrupt? The fact is that Kraft stopped fighting not because of what was right, but rather because of what was easy.

Maybe the writer should rethink the bit about his wife anyway. Maybe he wasn't that into her... Sorry but someone had to say it.. He isn't really into the Pats either..